The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Aspects of the invention concern a panel for use in an open roof construction for a vehicle, comprising a substantially rectangular panel main body, and at least one reinforcement member positioned in the vicinity of at least a part of the edges of said panel main body, and firmly connected thereto.
At present, the reinforcement members are connected to the panels by means of a plastic part, molded in a molding process. The connection by the plastic part between the reinforcement member and the panel is very firm. During and just after the molding process, the material of the plastic part will shrink. The amount of shrinkage depends on the local volume concentration of plastic material, whereby a large volume of material will cause a high rate of shrinkage at the extremities of such large volume of material. This shrinkage will have a negative influence on the geometry of the panel after molding. This influence may result in that panels are rejected after the molding process, due to lack of geometrical quality, or that panels will be damaged during use in the vehicle, because of too high internal material stresses.